How to Train Like Porsche Endurance Driver Patrick Long

When Patrick Long drops into the bucket seat of a Porsche 911 RSR for the 86th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend, it’ll be his 15th time competing at the iconic French track. Accordingly, the American endurance racer is intimately acquainted with Le Mans’ fast and slow corners, legendary straightaways, and trickier spots where peril is most likely to befall him.

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Long, the only American driver on the Porsche factory racing team, is also no stranger to the podium at Le Mans, having climbed atop it for class wins in 2004 and 2007. Last year, he won the Pirelli World Challenge championship, his second time after a 2011 win, adding to his three IMSA Driving championships. The man just wants to win, and he does it often. But don’t assume just anyone can keep notching victories into their belt. “The broad misconception that you sit in a race car and turn the wheel and that’s about it is so not accurate,” Long laughs. “No one understands what happens to a racer’s body. There’s so much going on, so many things that take a toll.”

“When we’re driving, our heart rate is between 150 and 170 at all times. Based on your mental state from the stress of any situation, it can spike higher,” Long says. “Plus the temperature in the car is intense. Take the outside temperature and we’re probably about 30 to 40 degrees warmer in the car. Then you add the four layers of fireproof clothing and you’re even hotter. It can get up to 140 degrees in there. You can lose up to seven pounds in three or so hours just by sweating.”

Lastly there are the actual G-forces, compressing and pulling on the body. The highest speed corner with the highest lateral load at Le Mans is the Porsche Curves. “You’re going through there at 140 miles an hour so you’ll feel three G's for four seconds. It’s a lot.”

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Maximum performance under constant phenomenal stress is why Long’s commitment to physical fitness is so paramount. For an endurance racer like Long, a single 24 hour race means he’s effectively completing four shorter races, all within the span of a day. Imagine playing four soccer matches within one day?

When training, Long has to be careful he doesn’t pack on muscle, because every pound counts in racing. “The engineers have to place ballast around the car to optimize handling, so you don’t want to get big. I’m 5’8 and 155 pounds and I’m on the larger size,” Long says. “I’m 36 now, but when you’re in twenties, you’re much lighter. There are racers who are under 145 pounds. So you don’t want to do a lot of lifting. What you need is really fantastic core stability.”

"You can lose up to seven pounds in three or so hours just by sweating."

Long does a heap of acrobatic core work and a lot of regular and side planks. There’s some driving analogs—such as standing on a medicine ball and holding dumbbells to simulate a steering wheel—but there’s no gym to give drivers like Long the ultimate workout. What does? Actually driving, but to run a race car like Long’s Porsche 911 requires “20 people and thousands of dollars in parts and consumables.” That’s untenable, fiscally.

Onto the next best thing: go-karting. “Karting simulates the trio of training areas we try to focus on: high heart rate, high ambient temperature and high intensity,” Long shares. “It is smack in the intersection of mental and physical demands that high performance driving requires. It’s great preparation.”

Long and the Porsche crew opt for shifter karts, which have a gearbox and can go more than 100 miles an hour, depending on the track. “They’re the most physical. Anything with that kind of power and grip will help get your body on the edge, physically. After ten minutes of driving a shifter kart, your body and mind are totally depleted,” says Long.

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There’s also a ton of cardio training, and training for recovery. Runs between an hour and an hour and a half are common, since Long’s mind-boggling travel schedule—“I’m on the road 200-plus days a year”—doesn’t leave much time for longer cardio workouts. He cycles on the road and on mountain trails, always with a mindful eye on interval training. “We have target heart rate zones during training to mirror various conditions in the car,” says Long. “For qualifying sessions and during races, we want to hit 170 or 180; for sustained recovery zones, we’re aiming at 135 to 150. I aim for those during cardio sessions.”

While every driver trains differently, Long’s ideal regimen splits indoor sweat sessions with using the great outdoors. “We train with the Porsche team in Potsdam, Germany, in an Olympic training facility. Doctors and scientists are testing us every step of the way there, from recording run times to pricking our ears for lactic acid testing during a threshold push on a treadmill. We go to Bavaria for training in the mountains, too. We’ll do a ton of hiking and trail running, ascending and descending for interval training,” he says.

“Your body takes a toll. One stint in a race car is like spending three hours in a tumble dryer."

For Long’s race car to run optimally, it requires high octane racing gasoline. Equally vital is how Long fuels his body. His diet is “standard stuff, balancing the intake of carbs and protein, plain chicken, steamed veggies and multigrain bars,” but the challenge comes during a 24-hour race. “You’re constantly trying to ingest enough calories. You can’t pop a gel or get any solids in while you’re actually driving; you’re going too fast. You end up eating as much as you can between stints. You want to make sure you’re eating the right amount of nutrients,” Long says.

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For example, mineral intake is vital. A lack of calcium, magnesium or potassium can result in serious cramps, and when you’re moving at 170 miles per hour, you absolutely don’t want to suffer a leg cramp. Porsche has team nutritionists and medical scientists who accompany Long and the drivers to all endurance races, and while Long does utilize them, he also goes with his gut. “In my mid-thirties, I’m thinking about less sugar and how what I’m eating will affect my blood sugar,” he says. “Also about hydration. Because of all perspiration, you’re trying to stay ahead of all the fluids your body is losing.”

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Trackside during any endurance race are physiotherapists and massage therapists. Drivers want their bodies as immobile as possible, from a safety aspect, so they’re strapped to the car via a five point harness system. Since the car’s ride height is so low, there’s a severely limited range for shocks to travel, so the ride is absurdly rough. “You feel everything in a race car,” Long laughs. “Every single pebble.” And every pebble becomes magnified when you’re experiencing little violent movements repeatedly due to the suspension. “Your hips, quads, and core are working overtime to stabilize you against the centrifugal forces. You’re bracing everything before you hit a corner. Your rotator cuffs are screaming at the end. Your body takes a toll. One stint in a race car is like spending three hours in a tumble dryer.”

Climbing atop a massage table after and before stints is “a great help,” Long says. “You’re relieving tension from being clenched for so long. Just look at how a racing driver sits. It’s a fetal position, with your spine curved, laid back and your legs up high. You’re always curled up. The massage helps to get you back to normal and get the lactic acid drained from your muscles.”

Champion drivers like Long may make the wins look effortless, as though all it takes is to turn a wheel, but reaching that podium takes a vast amount of training and work that few are able to harness.

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